Efforts to lift the ban were blocked by a 1993 Congressional amendment introduced by Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina. Those who fought the law say Mr. Helms, who died in 2008, perpetuated decades of discrimination.

But just as the ban has disappeared, the curators of Mr. Helmss legacy are trying to touch up the relevant history. Some want him seen as a savior to those with AIDS and a defender of gay rights.

Despite Mr. Helmss storied opposition to a homosexual lifestyle, the Jesse Helms Center in Wingate, N.C., is challenging the idea that he was a homophobe or obstructive in the AIDS fight.

According to the centers Web site, It was Senator Helms who worked most tirelessly to protect the very principles of freedom that homosexuals are denied in many other nations.

John Dodd, president of the Jesse Helms Center Foundation, recently disputed an editorial in the British newspaper The Guardian that vilified Mr. Helms for his role in the ban. Mr. Dodd argued that two million Africans were alive because of the senators work fighting H.I.V.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, whose partner Tim Curbo died from AIDS, said the Helms Center sought to sanitize the record. Its spitting on the graves of all the people who suffered, Mr. Ammiano said, adding, He was truly evil and very cavalier about it. He should be in the hall of shame.

Over the years Helms has declared Homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches" (Newsweek, 12/5/94). In a tirade highlighting his routine opposition to AIDS research funding, Helms lashed out at the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988 (States News Service, 5/17/88): "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."

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That's conservatism for you - do terrible things, and then lie about it afterwards... (i.e. Bush wasn't a real conservative).

Over the years Helms has declared homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches." (Newsweek, 12/5/94) In a tirade highlighting his routine opposition to AIDS research funding, Helms lashed out at the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988: "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." (States News Service, 5/17/88)

And the man ABC News now describes as a "conservative icon" (8/22/01) in 1993 sang "Dixie" in an elevator to Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, bragging, "I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries." (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/5/93)

Sen. Jesse Helms says the government should spend less money on people with AIDS because they got sick as a result of "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct," The New York Times reported Wednesday....

"We've got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts," Helms told the Times.

As an aide to the 1950 Senate campaign of North Carolina Republican candidate Willis Smith, Helms reportedly helped create attack ads against Smith's opponent, including one which read: "White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races." Another ad featured photographs Helms himself had doctored to illustrate the allegation that Graham's wife had danced with a black man. (The News and Observer, 8/26/01; The New Republic, 6/19/95; The Observer, 5/5/96; Hard Right: The Rise of Jesse Helms, by Ernest B. Furgurson, Norton, 1986)

Over the years Helms has declared homosexuality "degenerate," and homosexuals "weak, morally sick wretches." (Newsweek, 12/5/94) In a tirade highlighting his routine opposition to AIDS research funding, Helms lashed out at the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill in 1988: "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy." (States News Service, 5/17/88)

And the man ABC News now describes as a "conservative icon" (8/22/01) in 1993 sang "Dixie" in an elevator to Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, bragging, "I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries." (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/5/93)

Sen. Jesse Helms says the government should spend less money on people with AIDS because they got sick as a result of "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct," The New York Times reported Wednesday....

"We've got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts," Helms told the Times.

As an aide to the 1950 Senate campaign of North Carolina Republican candidate Willis Smith, Helms reportedly helped create attack ads against Smith's opponent, including one which read: "White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races." Another ad featured photographs Helms himself had doctored to illustrate the allegation that Graham's wife had danced with a black man. (The News and Observer, 8/26/01; The New Republic, 6/19/95; The Observer, 5/5/96; Hard Right: The Rise of Jesse Helms, by Ernest B. Furgurson, Norton, 1986)

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He was a disgusting human being. I for one, am not going to sit back and let them try to paint him as some kind of saint. He was an awful man, and what he did should never be forgotten.

He was a disgusting human being. I for one, am not going to sit back and let them try to paint him as some kind of saint. He was an awful man, and what he did should never be forgotten.

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Conservapedia makes this observation:

Quote

Helms was a staunch advocate for equality under law, but due to his Southern background and incorrect party affiliation, his positions were misrepresented through typically biased reporting.

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For contrast, Wikipedia records this anecdote:

Quote

...Helms ran into (Senator Carol) Moseley Braun in an elevator. Helms turned to Senator Orrin Hatch and said, "Watch me make her cry. I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries." He then proceeded to sing the song about 'the good life' during slavery...

Since you started this thread I assume you're adult enough to handle some critique on it. Initially, it struck me as particularly vindictive... More than anything else, it's particularly sad that you criticize a deceased Republican Senator while glossing over/denying the compassion that he did extend:

"In 2000, Bono sought out Jesse Helms to discuss increasing American aid to Africa. In Africa, AIDS is a disease that is primarily transmitted heterosexually, and Helms sympathized with Bono's description of 'the pain it is bringing to infants and children and their families'. Helms insisted that Bono involve the international community and private sector, so that relief efforts would not be paid for by 'just Americans'. Helms coauthored a bill authorizing $600 million for international AIDS relief efforts. In 2002, Helms announced that he was ashamed to have done so little during his Senate career to fight the worldwide spread of AIDS, and pledged to do more during his last few months in the Senate."Wikipedia

So unless you, leekohler, have authorized or given AIDS victims $600 million, that means Sen. Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr., has done far more than you to help AIDS victims. However, if you have helped AIDS victims more than the Senator, let us know...

Secondly, it is hypocrisy in the extreme for you to be criticizing a deceased Republican senator while a living Democrat senator served in the Ku Klux Klan and held far more racist and divisive views, particularly toward AIDS victims.

"According to Byrd, a Klan official told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd later recalled, "suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did." Byrd held the titles Kleagle (recruiter) and Exalted Cyclop."Wikipedia

Lastly, I wish it noted that I am not a fan of Sen. Helms, Jr.; many of the views Sen. Helms held were and are divisive and not in tune with the views of the GOP. Nor do I support the many instances of discrimination attributed to him. Nor am I defending the views of the curators cited in The New York Times article you advance. That said, the man is deceased and his views were his own and I do not think it wise or respectable to criticize a deceased Republican senator while giving a living Democrat senator a complete pass for his rank discrimination and racism. Moreover, to gloss over the goodness that Sen. Helms extended - $600 million for international AIDS relief efforts - that you failed to advance, clearly labels petty vindictiveness, in my opinion, as the sole basis for this thread. Nothing more.

Since you started this thread I assume you're adult enough to handle some critique on it. Initially, it struck me as particularly vindictive... More than anything else, it's particularly sad that you criticize a deceased Republican Senator while glossing over/denying the compassion that he did extend:

"In 2000, Bono sought out Jesse Helms to discuss increasing American aid to Africa. In Africa, AIDS is a disease that is primarily transmitted heterosexually, and Helms sympathized with Bono's description of 'the pain it is bringing to infants and children and their families'. Helms insisted that Bono involve the international community and private sector, so that relief efforts would not be paid for by 'just Americans'. Helms coauthored a bill authorizing $600 million for international AIDS relief efforts. In 2002, Helms announced that he was ashamed to have done so little during his Senate career to fight the worldwide spread of AIDS, and pledged to do more during his last few months in the Senate."Wikipedia

So unless you, leekohler, have authorized or given AIDS victims $600 million, that means Sen. Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr., has done far more than you to help AIDS victims. However, if you have helped AIDS victims more than the Senator, let us know...

Secondly, it is hypocrisy in the extreme for you to be criticizing a deceased Republican senator while a living Democrat senator served in the Ku Klux Klan and held far more racist and divisive views, particularly toward AIDS victims.

"According to Byrd, a Klan official told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd later recalled, "suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did." Byrd held the titles Kleagle (recruiter) and Exalted Cyclop."Wikipedia

Lastly, I wish it noted that I am not a fan of Sen. Helms, Jr.; many of the views Sen. Helms held were and are divisive and not in tune with the views of the GOP. Nor do I support the many instances of discrimination attributed to him. Nor am I defending the views of the curators cited in The New York Times article you advance. That said, the man is deceased and his views were his own and I do not think it wise or respectable to criticize a deceased Republican senator while giving a living Democrat senator a complete pass for his rank discrimination and racism. Moreover, to gloss over the goodness that Sen. Helms extended - $600 million for international AIDS relief efforts - that you failed to advance, clearly labels petty vindictiveness, in my opinion, as the sole basis for this thread. Nothing more.

Lastly, I wish it noted that I am not a fan of Sen. Helms, Jr.; many of the views Sen. Helms held were and are divisive and not in tune with the views of the GOP. Nor do I support the many instances of discrimination attributed to him. Nor am I defending the views of the curators cited in The New York Times article you advance.

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There is also stuff about the African AIDS relief bill he co-authored and some crap about how you can denigrate a deceased Republican while a Democrat who served in the KKK still lives (Byrd).

I can only imagine what ITN just said- still on ignore for me. Probably a good thing.

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honestly, i can't condone this approach.
you lose the right criticize someone's position if you don't even look at what they say.

in the specific post, for example, there are some properly argued points.
you (and I) might not agree with the conclusions or the relevance of using the example of byrd, and other stuff, but you can't dismiss it 'just because'.

Secondly, it is hypocrisy in the extreme for you to be criticizing a deceased Republican senator while a living Democrat senator served in the Ku Klux Klan and held far more racist and divisive views, particularly toward AIDS victims.

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Are you incapable of staying on topic? What another Democrat senator has or hasn't done is irrelevant in this discussion. This thread is about Helms and his bigotry. I would also say that Helms sending aid to Africa while ignoring the plight of U.S. Citizens is in itself despicable. Americans first, Everyone else second.

honestly, i can't condone this approach.
you lose the right criticize someone's position if you don't even look at what they say.

in the specific post, for example, there are some properly argued points.
you (and I) might not agree with the conclusions or the relevance of using the example of byrd, and other stuff, but you can't dismiss it 'just because'.

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You're right. I have him on ignore, I shouldn't respond.

BTW, I did read it- no matter what he did for AIDS in Africa, he did nothing here.

All ItN's post does is further highlight Helm's utter hypocrisy. He was one of those who believed in Good AIDS and Bad AIDS. Those suffering from Good AIDS should receive help, those suffering from Bad AIDS brought it on themselves and only deserved condemnation.

As for speaking ill of the dead, Josef Stalin was also a ****. I'm not going to start respecting him nor Helms just because they're both taking dirt naps. Only a fool starts respecting someone who caused immense harm just because they died.

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